Startup Stakes Its Claim Among The Stars

Big pharma is an integral part of the healthcare ecosystem. Its innovative drugs save millions of lives and improve the overall well-being of millions more. But to keep a market healthy you need an injection of new ideas. Startups provide that injection. They are not a threat but a sign that a market is functioning.

With that in mind, we launched the startup challenge at our annual Philadelphia event this year. Seven startups must battle it out over a three-minute elevator pitch to an audience of expectant pharma execs. The audience then votes for the startup that packed the most punch.

The startup that wowed the audience and won the award was COTA, Inc. Founded by oncologists and data scientists, COTA, Inc. builds solutions that analyse real-world evidence and deliver clinically relevant insights to improve cancer care.

Remarking on the win, Scott Phillips, Director of Life Sciences at COTA, Inc. said, “It was a great honor to represent COTA, Inc. in the Health Tech Challenge at eyeforpharma Philly. I am so pleased that our mission to bring clarity to cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients resonated with the eyeforpharma audience.”

He added: “The Health Tech Challenge provides an important opportunity for technology companies to share their message and contribute to the dialogue as disruptors and innovators in this space.”

Equally ebullient about the win was COTA, Inc.’s Senior Medical Director, C.K. Wang: “Winning the Health Tech Challenge from a field of strong contenders with great products was a humbling experience. It underscores the ever-increasing interest surrounding and prominence of real-world data and real-world evidence in healthcare.

“Participating in the Health Tech Challenge provides companies with an opportunity to refine, articulate and pressure-test their mission, vision and work. More importantly, it was an incredibly fun experience.”

COTA partners with providers, payers, and life science companies to optimise the outcomes of individual patients and lower overall healthcare costs. COTA's de-identified patient database has been used by life science companies across the product life cycle including clinical development, HEOR, market access, and commercial teams.

Life science companies have used COTA data to serve as comparator arms for clinical trials and in a number of research publications that have been accepted to major conferences, including ASCO and ASH.